Malakili - LC - Basic (BD22)

The vicious rancor that dwells beneath Jabba's palace has one true friend: Malakili. The Corellian is in charge of caring for the bloodthirsty beast. He treats the rancor like a cherished pet, and is overcome with grief when Luke puts an end to the creature.

Before
we even start to review this figure, we wish
to express and hope that this figure doesn’t
get “Yarna
d’al’ Gargan syndrome” while
hanging on the pegs. Malakili (AKA Rancor Keeper
to vintage enthusiasts) is a significant upgrade
to both the vintage and 1997 POTF2 figure.
Almost unbelievable to see him as a completely
new sculpt, it is actually more unbelievable
that it has been more than a decade since his
last modern version. As a figure that seemingly
ages quite well (no matter which decade he
is created), Malakili has essentially been
perfected and we believe Hasbro will put this
figure to rest. While anything is possible,
it is unlikely that Malakili will ever see
another new sculpt again. That is a powerful
line of thought isn’t it? It almost causes
angst. But we have reached a point in our collecting
where technology has reached a very high standard
and the need to keep reinventing the wheel
is going away at an exponential rate. The great
news is that we are indeed thrilled that there
has been over a decade long gap between this
version of Malakili and his 1997 ancestor.
He is a great sculpt, true to scale and painted
simply but wonderfully. There is a great deal
of corpulence in Jabba’s Palace. Yarna,
the Gamorrean Guards, Jabba himself and Malakili
have apparently been living high on the hog
(no pun intended) or have very slow metabolisms.
But their large size is quite a metaphor for
their greedy lifestyle or support of it at
least. Malakili may be one of the more innocent
bystanders in Jabba’s Palace since his
job was to take care of Jabba’s
Rancor with the assistance of Giran of
course, but he grew a deep level of affection
for the monstrous beast as we all witness in Star
Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. When
2009's TLC Jabba’s
Rancor With Luke Skywalker TARGET exclusive
was released, many collectors were upset that
the set did not come with Malakili (since we
got word that Malakili was due out in the near
future). Many of us felt that it would have
been the most value for our dollar since the
set retailed initially for $39.99 then jumped
up to $49.99 without explanation. But such
is life and now Malakili comes to us as a basic
Droid Factory figure.

Malakili
has seen quite a metamorphosis from his vintage
figure, to the 1997 POTF2 figure to now (this
new figure). Hasbro has done a relative excellent
job with all version of him throughout the
years, but the ante has been upped with this
release and the finished product is quite a
beauty. Interestingly, the vintage Rancor Keeper
has more in common with the 2009 Legacy Collection figure
than with the 1997 POTF2 counterpart. Both the
new figure and vintage figure have removable
cowls. The POTF2 version does not. We are thankful
that Hasbro went back to their roots for the
updated figure. It makes the figure more special
when it copies the blueprints of the figure
that started it all. Malakili is clearly another
collector-focused figure in this Legacy
Collection wave, but we hope that 2009's TLC Jabba’s
Rancor With Luke Skywalker TARGET exclusive set will make
those who normally wouldn’t pick this
figure up indeed do so. After all, Malakili
is quite an impressive action figure. He is
perfectly colored, something both previous
figures neglected to perfect. He has the right
hair pattern (some say it’s dirt) on
his chest and it is light enough to look very
realistic. But this action figure truly resembles the actor. You know about the removable cowl,
but of particular note is it’s sculpt.
It looks like a real piece of leather and there
are details including stitching and folds that
bring the piece to life. Malakili has a pretty
good face sculpt (although it leads the viewer
to believe he is younger than we see in the
film) but he looks like he is getting ready
to smile. This grimace or smirk is a little
confusing and his personality in the film led
us to believe he was a very burly and tough
man (before the death of the Rancor of course).
His spiky arm and leg gear have been expertly
crafted as well. And they have been painted
in a very realistic and bright silver paint.
Hasbro has certainly achieved great results
with the silver paint they use. It works so
well to color buckles on belts and parts on
guns. The details like the grommets on Malakili
work just as well! He even has a slightly emotional expression on his face, which works well when you make him realize his favorite pet is dead.

Malakili
is super-articulated and this was completely
unexpected for us. Then again, super-articulation seems to be the staple in the Star Wars line thank goodness. Obviously there was no need
to give him this treatment, but it was a gift
that we did. Not all of the points of articulation function perfectly as they don't give complete range of movement, but the attempt is much appreciated. Malakili comes with his pike and
removable cowl. These same two accessories
came with the vintage figure as well. Whether
it was Hasbro’s intention to pay homage
to this figure by giving him these attributes
is beyond us, but we have to say the spirit
behind it is quite amazing. We hope this will
generate additional purchases of this figure
at retail. So, will Malakili suffer a terrible
fate at retail? We don’t want to be pessimists
here, but we fear it is inevitable. But we
do wish to leave you with this thought. This
will likely be the last time he will be made
available at retail. We do not hold a crystal
ball here and we could be very wrong. But Hasbro
has mastered the Malakili character with this
release. There is ultimately no other reason
for this figure to be revisited. And if they
decide to rerelease the Rancor sometime down
the road (WAY down the road), Malakili will
be a great choice to complete the set. Unrelated,
there is another reason to pick up this figure.
He is a collector based figure and collector
based figures need our support. Since our voice
is very important, we votes with our dollars.
We need to support Malakili so that Knights
Of The Old Republic action figures see
the light of day. We need to support Malakili
so that the Comic Packs line continues. There
are many reasons to purchase Malikili, but
the most obvious one is because he is a figure
that deserves your purchase because of how
excellent he is. He will certainly not disappoint
your collection and he adds another level of
greatness to the outstanding Legacy Collection
Return Of The Jedi wave! And he is the modern definitive update to the vintage Kenner figure. That is reason enough for us.